# Absinthe drinkers



## JoeyBear (Jul 31, 2007)

I did a search and found many very old threads about absinthe and am wondering if there are any new members to the love of the green fairy. I'm an absinthe freak and have been for about two years now. I have about 10 US made absinthes and maybe 8 or 9 from France, Switzerland, and other EU countries. I don't have any from the Czech Republic...those all suck and taste like 100 year old mouthwash/turpentine.

I love the incredible feeling of a slight buzz after a couple/few glasses of absinthe, after the louche has occurred from adding water. The absinthe made in the states is every bit as good as the stuff currently being produced in the EU. Some of our stuff sucks, as does some of theirs.


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## FiveStar (Jan 7, 2010)

I need to check this out. I've never had good Absinthe, but the flavor and preparation are intriguing to me. I'm a huge fan of a drink called the Sazerac, which uses a dash of Absinthe as a rinse for the final drink. The rest is a simple mix of a muddled sugar cube soaked in Peychaud's bitters, 2 oz of Rye Whiskey, and a lemon twist over top. Much like an Absinthe drip, this drink takes time and ceremony to prepare properly, but when done right it's an absolute symphony of flavor.

Do you have any recommendations for good domestic Absinthe? I've heard the Absinte brand is NASTY, but that was from a local yokel who probably prefers Jager....


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

I thought most of the Absinthe brands were not allowed for sale in the US, and that Lucid was one of the only ones allowed for domestic sale in the US because of low wormwood content.


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## JoeyBear (Jul 31, 2007)

Absente is a pastis and not an absinthe. Even absente isn't really that bad, as long as you're not looking for a true absinthe. There are and always will be controversies surrounding the ingredients in absinthe and if one is "true" or not. The easy truth is that absinthe has been made since the late 1200s at least and has been used for centuries because of the healing powers of the ingredients. The original recipe has long been gone and even the recipes used in the 1800s in the EU nations has been changed by the distilleries throughout the years. I've heard the "there are no true absinthes made in the US", but that's usually from someone who doesn't know any better than what they can regurgitate from an unknown or unsubstantiated source. 

Absinthe became illegal to distill in 1910 in Switzerland and 1915 in France. Nothing in absinthe will make you hallucinate or go insane. It was claimed that the ingredient grand wormwood contained a chemical called Thujone and that thujone made people crazy. There's 3x more thujone in common sage than there is in the same amount of grand wormwood. 

Pacifique is great, North Shore Distillery out of Chicago has a tasty absinthe, and Vieux Carre from Pennsylvania is excellent. There's Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee that make Amerique 1912, a verte and a rouge, and they're both fantastic.


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## JoeyBear (Jul 31, 2007)

Brinson said:


> I thought most of the Absinthe brands were not allowed for sale in the US, and that Lucid was one of the only ones allowed for domestic sale in the US because of low wormwood content.


Remember, alcohol lobbyists donate more $$ to the political machine than all other contributors combined. It's not difficult to ban importation of a product "claimed" to be harmful, even with no evidence or proof. That's how and why absinthe was originally made illegal in 1910 and 1915.


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

i have always wantedto try it. i was very close to ordering some from over sea's beack before there was absenth here (at least, that i knew of) but i never did it, i should maybe give it a shot.


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## GentlemanJester (Feb 28, 2010)

I'm not a fan, I tried it while I in Europe over the summer in hopes that it would be better than what I'd had here... Just not for me.

I mean it's not bad, but there is other stuff I'd much rather drink.


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

when i do it. i wanna do it the traditional way, with the salt and all that.....but im sure, if its any good, i will down the bottle the good ol american way!. lol. ive never been one to pour my scotch in a half glass with ice, just toss it in the freezer, and when i get to it, drink it from the bottle, it will all be gone in one night anyway! if its good that is.


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## FiveStar (Jan 7, 2010)

gibson_es said:


> when i do it. i wanna do it the traditional way, with the salt and all that.....but im sure, if its any good, i will down the bottle the good ol american way!. lol. ive never been one to pour my scotch in a half glass with ice, just toss it in the freezer, and when i get to it, drink it from the bottle, it will all be gone in one night anyway! if its good that is.


What is this sacrelige you speak of? Salt in Absinthe? Scotch in the freezer? Or for that matter, ice in your scotch? Brother, I hope you're drinking Balentine or at the best Cutty Sark if that's how you're treating it! :doh:


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## JoeyBear (Jul 31, 2007)

gibson_es said:


> the salt


No salt, sugar. Sugar helps cut the bitterness that can come from the hyssop.


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

JoeyBear said:


> No salt, sugar. Sugar helps cut the bitterness that can come from the hyssop.





FiveStar said:


> What is this sacrelige you speak of? Salt in Absinthe? Scotch in the freezer? Or for that matter, ice in your scotch? Brother, I hope you're drinking Balentine or at the best Cutty Sark if that's how you're treating it! :doh:


i was thinking sugar, dont know why i said salt, and as for the scotch, i usually go with johnny walker, and yes, i put it in the freezer to get cold. i like it cold, call me strange if you will. i put alot of my booze in the freezer to get cold (except moonshine), if its strong enough it wont freeze, if its not strong enough, i keep a good eye on it. i cant think of too many things i want to drink at room temp, weather it the norm to do it or not, i dont care....i do what i like, what can i say? maybe its a ******* thing, or maybe its just a blake thing. i dont know. lol. but scotch at 32* is better then scotch at 90*....and i dont put it on ice. like i had said. though i have seen many that do. and i never did understand it myself, you ether drink it fast, or drink watered down scotch!

keep this in mind, to me, cigars are a hobby, drinking is just a habbit. i dont care for my drinks like i do my stogies.


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## BTcigars (Jun 30, 2009)

I am not a drinker but I remember hearing from somewhere that this was once prepared with opium, hence people going crazy. Van Gogh was said to be a drinker of this variety and what may of led to him cutting his ear off.


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